In tissue transplant surgery, grafts of tissue are typically removed from one portion of a patient's body during a graft removal step of the surgery. The grafts are then implanted to another region of the patient's body during the implant step of the surgery. In performing such surgery, it is necessary to properly transport and store the grafts removed from the patient during the removal step before their implantation. Additionally, the grafts must be made available to the surgeon so that they are readily accessible during the implant step of the surgery.
Specifically, in hair transplant surgery, the practice has been to surgically remove grafts of hair bearing tissue from the head of a patient, place the strips on a cutting surface, cut the grafts into micro- or mini-grafts and store these grafts in a liquid containing dish. Thereafter, in order to implant the micro- or mini-grafts, the surgeon typically arranges the grafts on the top surface of one of his or her gloved hands. This is typically accomplished by individually removing grafts from the liquid containing dish and placing them one-by-one on the top surface of the gloved hands. During the implant step of the surgery, the surgeon uses this hand as a support for the tissue grafts and implants the grafts using fine forceps with the remaining free hand. Because one hand is used to support the tissue grafts, the fingers of this hand are of limited use in the surgical process.
The present invention is directed at a tissue graft holder which facilitates tissue transplant surgery.